


Practice Makes Perfect

by remreader



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: CEO Pepper Potts, F/M, Fluff, Post-Iron Man 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-11-08 08:49:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17978150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/remreader/pseuds/remreader
Summary: Pepper is nervous about a presentation; Tony discovers he really likes listening to her talk science.





	Practice Makes Perfect

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rebelmeg](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebelmeg/gifts).



> This is vaguely set between Iron Man 2 and The Avengers, when Pepper is still relatively new as CEO of Stark Industries.

“Hey Tony?” Pepper stepped into Tony's workshop, turning down the blaring music so he'd be able to hear her, “Are you busy?” She looked around and, not seeing Tony at his usual tinkering spot, followed it with a muttered, “...are you even here?”

“Hmmm…?” Tony slid out from under the car he'd been working on and jumped up happily at the sight of Pepper standing in the doorway.

Pepper laughed when she saw his face and rubbed a finger demonstratively across her own forehead, “Um you've got a little something there…”

“Oh, right, motor oil!” He said brightly. “Occupational hazard.” Tony lifted his arm to wipe the greasy drops off his forehead and his tank top pulled up a bit on one side, causing Pepper to bite her lip and sternly remind herself that she was here on a very specific mission and **not** to get distracted by...any of that.

Tony gave Pepper a quick kiss on the cheek. “So, Miss Potts, can I interest you in some quality auto repair? Or...” he raised an eyebrow hopefully, “your very own suit? I've got some great designs all ready to go…”

Pepper put a finger on his mouth to shush him before he could tell JARVIS to pull up the blueprint holograms _again_. “No. Are you really going to try that _every_ time I come down here?”

“Until you say yes?” Tony shrugged. “Probably.”

“Right. _Anyway_ , back to things that are actually happening, the big board of directors meeting is coming up and I have to give that annual report, the update on all of SI’s major projects, new developments, projections for next year…”

“Ugh yeah, I used to hate having to do those. Worst audience ever, no appreciation for a bit of dramatic flair…”

Pepper shook her head in slightly exasperated fondness at Tony's indignant disbelief at the notion that anyone could resist his _dramatic flair_. “Sure, that too. But my main concern is, well, there's a lot of pretty complex scientific and technical details to go through and I mean, I've been listening to you talk about your work for years, it's not like I don't know _anything_ but still. Not my area of expertise. And I just...I already have to deal with half of them thinking I don't belong in this job anyway; I don't want to come across like I don't know what I'm talking about.” She took a breath. She knew she was being silly, getting nervous about asking this, knew that Tony wouldn't think she was an idiot for wanting his help. She drummed her fingers on the stack of presentation notecards she'd brought with her. “So. I thought it might help if I could sort of rehearse it a bit. To you. Just to make sure I've got all the jargon down, can answer the likely questions, that sort of thing… I mean, if you're not busy.”

“Of course, hon.” Tony said softly. She looked so nervous and he knew he shouldn't find it adorable but he couldn't help himself. “I've always got time for you, and I could use a break from this anyway.” He waved his hand at the car behind him. Then he looked back at Pepper with a bit of a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, “Besides, you know I love it when you talk shop.”

He headed over to the couch and got himself settled comfortably while Pepper gathered her notes together, took a deep breath and began.

Despite her initial nerves, Pepper was doing a great job. She worked her way through her stack of cards, performance getting looser and more natural as she went. Tony followed her with his eyes as she paced back and forth in front of the couch. He was trying to focus so he could provide helpful feedback as needed, really he was, but he had severely underestimated how hard it would be not to get distracted, listening to her talk like that about mechanics and engineering… All his favorite topics being discussed in mesmerizing detail by his favorite person in the world and she sounded so damn good doing it. It was more than a little brain-scrambling.

“Hey, Pep?” Tony interrupted when Pepper was about halfway through, unable to resist anymore, “Read that last bit back again?”

Pepper flipped her last note card back over, a mildly puzzled expression on her face. She knew she’d been doing really well so far and was pretty sure she'd gotten that one right… “Um. Experimentation is progressing satisfactorily on hippocampal stimulation for the binarily augmented retro-framing project?”

Tony grinned up at her. “See, I don't know what you were worried about. That was…” _just say good just say good get yourself under control, Tony, you can do this_ “...so hot.” _oops._

 _Ah, so_ that _was it_ , Pepper realized, mentally rolling her eyes. _Typical Tony. She_ was _feeling a lot more confident now though, she could afford to have a bit of fun with this_...

“Oh, you liked that?” It was Pepper's turn to tease and she was going to enjoy every second of it. She leaned in close to Tony and pressed a hand firmly against his chest, pinning him to the back of the couch and curling her fingers into the fabric of his shirt. She experienced a thrill of what could best be described as triumph as she felt Tony's heart start to beat faster under her palm. “I’m just getting started, Tony, there's a whole section coming up about…” she glanced at her next card and picked a phrase off it at random, pretty sure that just about anything would work at this point, “kinematic chains in robotic systems…”

Yep, that did it. Tony pulled Pepper the rest of the way down onto his lap. “Ooh, that does sound good,” he murmured, starting to trail kisses up her neck. He slid a hand up Pepper's back and shifted her closer to him, his other hand tangling itself in her hair. “Tell me more…”

* * *

They both came to the conclusion that while Pepper's performance (well, the part of it she'd actually gotten through before they both got pretty thoroughly distracted) was excellent, it couldn't hurt to get some more practice. Lots and lots of practice...


End file.
